The vast majority of the human population earns very little money. With a low regular income, it is difficult for many people to amass sufficient capital to purchase assets. A number of schemes have been developed to address this problem. For example, one arrangement permits a person desiring to purchase an asset or a service to pay a portion of the price over time in a number of payments. When the price has been paid off, the person is provided with possession of the asset or the service is rendered.
As an alternative, a number of credit facilities have been developed which include micro-finance, hire purchase agreements, etc.
These known arrangements suffer from a disadvantage in that it may take significant time for the purchaser to pay off the purchase price. Financing arrangements suffer from the disadvantage of being costly to implement and administer, and can be difficult to enforce, particularly in a rural environment. Often, the purchaser will end up paying significantly more than the purchase price to cover the administration costs.
A further problem exists, particularly in developing economies, whereby once an asset has been purchased, insufficient planning is made to ensure for the maintenance of that asset. Therefore, assets that might otherwise be easily repaired are neglected to such an extent that repair becomes more expensive.